getting a new camera

sky_69

sky_69

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Name
Danni
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hey guys..

im kinda new to photography, and have been using a canon powershot camera for just over a year now.. ive sort of decided what sort of pictures id like to start taking using a more advanced camera, and was wondering what you guys suggest..

i love taking macro shots. ive got some praying mantids and a big marine tank with fantastic corals in it, and love getting those colse up, really detailed pictures that are full of colour.
i also enjoy taking beautiful landscape shots (especially when im sitting fishing!)
another thing i like to use as a subject is flowers and the garden. my boyfriends mum has a big garden with tonnes of big bright flowers, and i think they look fantastic.

ive also found that with using a limited camera, that i couldnt adjust the shutter speed at all, and it was really bugging me, as when i was in manual mode, and had changed other settings, the shutter speed was really slow, so i got really blurred pictures from a slow moving subject (a turtle in london zoo that was eating!)

so the sort of camera im looking to get needs to have these functions avaliable:
- really good for macro and super macro
- also good for long distance and landscape shots
- good optical zoom
- high mega pixels (10-14 if possible)
- can adjust shutter speed!!!!
- nice led display
- slr would be nice too

i suppose my budget is up to £750-£800 as its going to be a 21st birthday present, but if i can get something for cheaper than that, id like to.

if theres anythin else you would recommend i look for in a camera, then please do say, and thanks for any advice you give
x

ps if you want to see some of the pics ive had out of the canon, let me know and ill post them up

cheers
 
sky_69 said:
so the sort of camera im looking to get needs to have these functions avaliable:
- really good for macro and super macro
- also good for long distance and landscape shots
- good optical zoom
- high mega pixels (10-14 if possible)
- can adjust shutter speed!!!!
- nice led display
- slr would be nice too

i suppose my budget is up to £750-£800 as its going to be a 21st birthday present, but if i can get something for cheaper than that, id like to.
Click to expand...

Hi,

I think that first you need to decde whether you want a high-end point & shoot "bridge" camera or a DSLR.
With the bridge camera the body & fixed lens will do all that you want however a DSLR with interchangeable lenses will allow for better responsiveness, more flexibility & higher quality at the cost of portability & well, cost :p
 
i would rather go for a dslr so i can get different lenses for what ever camera i go for.

i cant seem to upload any pictures to the gallery on this site, and im not sure why :( any help on that?
 
if you choose sony, you can also use minolta lenses
 
sky_69 said:
i know it sounds dumb.. but whats that? ^^'
Click to expand...

with sony dslr, you can obviously choose to have sony lenses or older minolta's.

if you search minolta, you will find quite a few members using old lenses i.e. from ebay (should be cheaper, but more sony members catching on). favourties are the 50mm, beercan zoom range etc.

if you choose nikon or canon you can only use their brand or third party sigma, tamron etc. but sony bought out minolta, so old lenses are compatabile.

also with sony's, well i know with mine, is that the focus motor is in the body which allows using a wider range of lenses, unlike some nikon or canon where the focus motor is in the lens which makes buying lenses more expensive

hope that makes sense.
 
ohh i see :)
because im new to all this, all the technical bits and brand names dont mean much to me right now.. im goin to be goin on a long holiday near the end of this month, so wont actually get to use the camera until i come back, but after i do get back, im goin to hopefully be doing some photography courses at my local college/uni so things should get a bit clearer IF i do some of the courses.
 
it was all like that for me too, but keep asking questions on here and someone will help or point you to some articles.


i've added some pics to my for sale section.

but to take macro, landscape, long distance you'll need a whole host of lenses.

for macro you'll need a prime, land scape maybe like a wide angle and long distance a good zoom, so that's 3 seperate lenses and can cost quite a fair bit.

when i first started off i wanted to do all that but on a budget and so got a 18-200 zoom lens which gave me greater flexibility while out and about.

a dslr will allow you to adjust shutter speed (check my pics in the for sale section of light trails i did with longer shutter speed - hand held)

my a300 sony is 10 mega pixels which is more than enough for anything upto A3 prints!

you can see all the adjustments through the view finder or I have set it on the screen at the back (bit of a novice still), but it automatically turns off when you put your face to it to avoid glare when looking through view finder
 
sky_69 said:
ohh i see :)
because im new to all this, all the technical bits and brand names dont mean much to me right now..
Click to expand...
fyi Minolta was a major camera manufacturer (they had upto 25% market share at one point iirc) & 1 of the most innovative but chose to get out of cameras & concentrate on their other products.
They sold their imaging division to Sony ~3 years ago so Sony Alpha DSLRs use the Minolta AF lens mount.
This means that you can use older Minolta AF lenses on them as well as Sony (& of course 3rd party e.g. Sigma & Tamron in Minolta AF mount).
 
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